Hope on Hold: SA Teens Need Matching Stem Cell Donors Now
Cape Town, July 1, 2025 – Over 7,300 South Africans are battling blood cancer. For many, a stem cell transplant from a matching donor is their only hope for survival. Yet, despite daily new registrations, finding a match remains rare and difficult. Behind these numbers are real lives like Thando (17) and Amahle (15), who are fighting for their futures.
Thando’s Story: From Dancing to Diagnosis
Just a year ago, Thando was a vibrant teenager who loved school and dancing. But in June last year, persistent abdominal pain and unusual paleness signalled that something was wrong. After a series of hospital visits and tests, she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML).
Since then, her life has been transformed by frequent hospital visits, exhausting treatments, and the pain of missing out on her passions.
Her mother is now an advocate for greater awareness around the urgent need for blood stem cell donors. “Caring for a child with cancer is incredibly tough, but you have to stay strong and patient. It’s not an easy road, but you are not alone.”
Amahle’s Journey: Searching for Hope
Amahle was excited to choose her Grade 10 subjects when her health began deteriorating in 2024. What started as fatigue and loss of appetite was misdiagnosed several times before doctors confirmed she had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL).
Now undergoing long stretches of chemotherapy, she is waiting for a matching donor who could give her a new lease on life.
“I have accepted my daughter’s situation, as difficult as it is,” says her mother, Nombuso. “I remain hopeful that she will find a match.”
Why Matching Is So Hard
HLA types vary greatly among individuals and ethnic groups, making a match hard to find, even within families. Without a close match, the risk of transplant failure or serious complications increases significantly.
How You Can Help
This is why patients like Thando and Amahle often face long, uncertain waits. More young, healthy South Africans, especially from diverse backgrounds, are therefore needed to register as donors.
Joining the registry is simple. A quick cheek swab is all it takes to see if you're a match. You could be the one person Thando or Amahle desperately needs.
Learn more and register at https://www.dkms-africa.org/save-lives
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About DKMS
DKMS is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer. It was founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr. Peter Harf and DKMS together with the organization’s over 1,200 employees and has since relentlessly pursued the aim of giving as many patients as possible a second chance at life. With over 12 million registered donors, DKMS has succeeded in doing this more than 115,000 times to date by providing blood stem cell donations to those in need. This accomplishment has led to DKMS becoming the global leader in the facilitation of unrelated blood stem cell transplants. The organization has offices in Germany, the US, Poland, the UK, Chile, and South Africa. In India, DKMS has founded the joint venture DKMS-BMST together with the Bangalore Medical Services Trust. International expansion and collaboration are key to helping patients worldwide because like the organization itself, blood cancer knows no borders.
DKMS is also heavily involved in the fields of medicine and science, with its own research unit focused on continually improving the survival and recovery rate of patients. In its high-performance laboratory, the DKMS Life Science Lab, the organization sets worldwide standards in the typing of potential blood stem cell donors.